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United States Patent |
6,010,730
|
Okaizumi
,   et al.
|
January 4, 2000
|
Method and apparatus for winding up a sheet of dough
Abstract
A sheet of dough is wound up by a roller and a pressing device. The roller
is located above a conveyor that conveys a sheet of dough. The pressing
device is located near the roller. When the roller is winding up the sheet
of dough, the pressing device moves to the roll of the sheet, so that the
pressing device presses the wound-up sheet. Then, the pressing device
moves away from it. This is repeated, so that the sheet is repeatedly
pressed and thus tightly wound up.
Inventors:
|
Okaizumi; Hiroyuki (Utsunomiya, JP);
Kuroo; Nobuyoshi (Utsunomiya, JP);
Niibe; Takao (Utsunomiya, JP)
|
Assignee:
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Rheon Automatic Machinery Co., Ltd. (Utsunomiya, JP)
|
Appl. No.:
|
023676 |
Filed:
|
February 13, 1998 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
Current U.S. Class: |
426/501; 425/364R; 425/373; 425/374; 426/500 |
Intern'l Class: |
A21C 003/00; A23P 001/00 |
Field of Search: |
426/500,501,496
425/364 R,373,374
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
4110482 | Aug., 1978 | Sato | 425/373.
|
4842879 | Jun., 1989 | Ek | 426/501.
|
4961949 | Oct., 1990 | Barnes et al. | 426/500.
|
Primary Examiner: Yeung; George
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Limbach & Limbach L.L.P.
Claims
We claim:
1. A method for winding up a sheet of dough to prepare a wound-up product
comprising the steps of winding up a sheet of dough from one of the edges
of the sheet in the longitudinal direction of it, moving a pressing means
forward to press a roll that is being wound up, moving the pressing means
backward and away from the roll, and repeating the forward and backward
movements.
2. The method of claim 1 further including a step of putting a filling on
the sheet of dough before it is wound up.
3. An apparatus for winding up a sheet of dough to prepare a wound-up
product comprising a conveyor means (10) to convey a sheet of dough, a
wind-up means (20) located above the conveyor means (10) to wind up the
sheet of dough to form a roll, and a pressing means (30) located near the
winding-up means (20), wherein said pressing means (30) moves toward the
winding-up means (20) to press the roll that is being wound up, the
pressing means (30) then moves away from the winding-up means, and the
pressing means (30) repeats the movements.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the pressing means 30 includes a
pressing plate.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the pressing plate is positioned
opposite the roller.
6. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the pressing plate of the pressing
means slopes toward the conveying surface of the conveyor.
7. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the lower end of the pressing plate
contacts the lower side of the roller.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing various
kinds of bar-shaped and wound-up products (having concentric sections)
made of bread dough, pie dough, dough for Danish pastry, etc.
2. Prior Art
A conventional apparatus that manufactured wound-up products is disclosed
in a publication entitled A Collection of Well-known Art, published Feb.
20, 1980, by the Japanese Patent Office. The apparatus had a roller,
called a sidewinder, to wind up a sheet of dough that is continuously fed,
when the roller rotates. Also, in some cases this apparatus had some
members that were able to assist the sidewinder to wind up the continuous
sheet of dough.
Under some situations, the conventional apparatus could not tightly wind up
a sheet of dough, when wound-up products were prepared. For example, when
granulated sugar, jam, cream, etc. was applied on one or both sides of a
sheet of dough, it was or they were slippery. The sheet of dough slipped
off the roller of the conventional apparatus when the roller wound up the
sheet, so that the roller could not help loosely winding it up.
Also, when solid or granular pieces, such as chestnuts, strawberries,
pieces of pineapples or apples, or sugar-glazed adzuki beans, were put on
an upper surface of a sheet of dough or embedded in the sheet, these
pieces prevented the sidewinder from tightly winding up the sheet of
dough.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One object of this invention is to provide a method and apparatus to
tightly wind up a sheet of dough without it slipping off the surface of
the apparatus, even if the surface is slippery.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method and apparatus to
tightly wind up a sheet of dough when solid or granular pieces, such as
chestnuts, strawberries, pieces of pineapples or apples, or sugar-glazed
adzuki beans, are put on the surface of the sheet of dough or embedded in
the sheet.
Thus, this invention provides a method of winding up a sheet of dough with
a roller and a pressing means. The roller is located above a conveyor
means that conveys a sheet of dough. Also, the roller is obliquely located
relative to the longitudinal direction of the conveyer means. When the
sheet of dough is conveyed by the conveyor means to the roller, the roller
begins winding up the sheet of dough from one of the edges of it. The
pressing means is located near the roller. When the roller winds up the
sheet of dough, the pressing means moves to the sheet that is being wound
up, so that the pressing means presses the wound-up sheet. Then, the
pressing means moves away from it. This is repeated, so that the sheet is
repeatedly pressed and thus tightly wound up.
One aspect of this invention provides a method for winding up a sheet of
dough to prepare a wound-up product comprising steps for winding up a
sheet of dough from one of the edges of the sheet in the longitudinal
direction of it, moving a pressing means forward to press a roll that is
being wound up, moving the pressing means backward and away from the roll,
and repeating the forward and backward movements.
Another aspect of this invention provides an apparatus for winding up a
sheet of dough to prepare a wound-up product comprising a conveyor means
to convey a sheet of dough, a wind-up means located above the conveyor
means to wind up the sheet of dough to form a roll, and a pressing means
located near the winding-up means, where said pressing means moves toward
the winding-up means to press the roll that is being wound up, then moves
away from the winding-up means, and repeats these movements.
The pressing means can include a pressing plate. The pressing plate can be
positioned opposite the roller. The pressing plate of the pressing means
can slope toward the conveying surface of the conveyor. The lower end of
the pressing plate can contact the lower side of the roller.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of this invention where a sheet of
dough is being wound up.
FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 are side views of a pressing plate of the embodiment of
this invention, explaining the pressing function of it.
FIG. 5 is another plan view of the embodiment of this invention where a
sheet of dough on which a filling is put is being wound up.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERABLE EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an apparatus for winding up a sheet of dough
of this invention. It includes a conveyor 10, a wind-up apparatus 20, and
a pressing apparatus 30. The conveyor 10 has a conveyor belt 11 and a
frame 12. The conveyor 10 operates to feed a sheet of dough in the
direction of the arrow C.
The wind-up apparatus 20 has a roller 21. It is fixed to the frame 12
through a fixing arm 24 such that the roller 21 is obliquely positioned
relative to the longitudinal direction of the conveyor belt 11. This angle
of the roller can be changed. A motor 22 is connected to the roller 21 to
drive it. The frame 12 also supports the motor 22. On the surface of the
roller 21 recesses 23 are formed along the longitudinal direction of it,
so that the roller can engage a sheet of dough when it is wound up. The
roller 21 does not contact the conveyor belt 11. Also, the roller 21 is
horizontally supported parallel to the conveyor belt 11 to keep a gap
between the roller and the conveyor belt. A sheet of dough 40 cannot pass
through the gap. The roller 21 rotates opposite to the advancing direction
of the conveyor belt 11 (FIG. 2).
The pressing apparatus 30 has a pressing plate 31 and a motor 33. They are
connected to each other by an arm 32. The pressing plate 31 is
horizontally supported. It includes a pressing part 34, which slopes
toward the surface of the conveyor belt 11 (FIGS. 2, 3, and 4). The lower
end of the pressing part 34 is supported near the upper surface of the
dough that is being fed by the conveyor belt 11, and does not contact it.
The pressing plate 31 has a horizontal length that is substantially the
same as that of the part of the roller 21 that contacts the sheet of
dough. The pressing part 34 is opposite the side surface of the roller 21.
The pressing plate 31 has a pressing part 34. The motor 33 drives the
pressing plate 31 to frequently and reciprocally move it horizontally.
Thus, the pressing plate 31 approaches or moves away from the roller 21.
This approach and retraction of the plate are alternately repeated. The
motor 33 is an electric motor. But, instead of it, an air motor, etc. can
be used.
In operation, the sheet 40 of dough is stretched by a stretcher (not
shown), and then is fed by the conveyor belt 11 in the direction of the
arrow C in FIG. 1. As in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4, the roller 21 rotates in
the direction of the arrow R. The roller 21 winds up one end of the sheet
40 of dough, when the end abuts against this roller. When the sheet is
being wound up, it is formed to be a roll 50. As the sheet is wound up,
the diameter of the roll increases. The roll that is being wound up can
have an 80-mm or larger diameter.
When the roller 21 is winding up the sheet 40 of dough, as in FIG. 3 the
pressing plate 31 approaches the roller 21. Then, the pressing part 34
contacts the roll 50. Since the pressing part 34 slopes toward the surface
of the conveyor belt 11, the lower part of the pressing part 34 contacts
the lower side of the roll 50. The pressing part 34 still advances to push
the roll 50 to the roller 21. Simultaneously, the roll 50 is rotated by
the roller in the direction of the arrow S1, as in FIG. 3. As a result,
the roll 50 is deformed by both the roller 21 and the pressing plate 34 to
a shape whose cross section is somewhat oval. Also, the area of the
surface of roller 21 that contacts the roll 50 increases, so that the
friction between them increases. The friction ensures that the roller 21
winds up the sheet 40 around the roll 50 without it slipping off the roll.
Then, the pressing part 34 moves away from the roll 50. As a result, the
roll 50 falls down on a flat part of the sheet 40, since the roll is
deformed to be oval. That is, because the roll 50 is deformed to have a
longitudinal axis in a vertical plane, the roll 50 is easily rotated in
the direction of the arrow S2, as in FIG. 4. Thus, the sheet 40 can be
more easily wound up.
Then, again the pressing plate 31 approaches the roller 21 to press the
roll 50, and then the pressing plate 31 moves away from it. This approach
and retraction are repeated when the roller is winding the sheet up to
prepare a wound-up product. Thus, the pressing part 34 frequently presses
the roll when it is being wound up.
As stated above, the lower part of the pressing part 34 contacts and
presses the lower side of the roll 50, since the pressing part 34 slopes
toward the conveying surface of the conveyor belt 11. Thus, the pressing
part 34 does not prevent the roll 50 from being rotated in the direction
of the arrow S1 as in FIG. 3. Rather, the roll can easily be rotated
around its lower side, since the lower part of the pressing part 34 holds
the lower side of it.
As the diameter of the roll 50 increases as it is wound up, the contact
area of the roller 21 to the surface of the roll increases. As a result,
the friction between them increases, so that the roller 21 can tightly
wind the roll up. Thus, even if the roll has a large diameter when it is
being wound up, it does not collapse.
The pressing part 34 of the pressing apparatus 30 is not limited to a
plate. Instead of it, a roller may be used. It must be parallel to the
roller. Also, a plurality of rollers may be used. They must also be
parallel to the roller 21. The roller and the rollers are located to
repeatedly move to and away from the roll that is being wound up, so that
the roll is repeatedly pressed when it is being wound up.
FIG. 5 shows the apparatus for winding up a sheet of dough of this
invention that is the same as that in FIG. 1. However, unlike the case in
FIG. 1, a filling 60 is put on the sheet 40 of dough. As the filling 60,
solid or granular pieces, such as chestnuts, strawberries, pieces of
pineapples or apples, or sugar-glazed adzuki beans, are used. They can be
put on the upper surface of the sheet 40 of dough, after it is stretched
by a stretcher (not shown), or embedded in the sheet before or after it is
stretched. This apparatus winds up such a sheet to produce a wound-up
product. By the conventional apparatus these pieces cause the roller to
slip out of a roll of sheet of dough to be wound up. However, this
apparatus allows the pressing plate to press the roll of a sheet of dough
that is being wound up, so that the friction between the roll and the
roller increases. As a result, the sheet can be tightly wound up.
This invention provides the following effects:
The pressing means of this invention presses the side of the roll that is
being wound up. As a result, the roll is deformed to be oval. Thus, the
contact area of the roller to the roll increases, so that the friction
between them increases. The friction ensures that the roller rotates the
roll.
The pressure caused by the pressing means results in the deformation of the
cross section of the roll to a vertical oval. Thus, the roll can easily
fall on a flat part of the sheet, so that the wind-up operation of the
roller can be expedited.
Also, even if the roll that is being wound up has a large diameter, for
example, one of 80 mm, the roll does not collapse, and maintains its
shape.
Even if granulated sugar, jam, cream, oil, paste, etc. is applied on one or
both sides of a sheet of dough, so that the side or sides is or are
slippery, a sheet of dough can be tightly wound up.
Also, even if solid or granular pieces, such as chestnuts, strawberries,
pieces of pineapples or apples, or sugar-glazed adzuki beans, are put on
an upper surface of a sheet of dough or into the sheet, the roller can
tightly wind up the sheet of dough without the roller slipping off the
sheet.
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